Pancake Day

Today is Pancake Day in the UK (commonly known as Fat Tuesday in the US), which is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Making pancakes is one way to use up rich foods like eggs, milk, and sugar, since it is traditional to give these up for Lent.

Now, we're not talking about cakey American pancakes here. These are generally more crepe-like, and can be loaded with sweet or savory toppings. I ordered a ham and cheese pancake from our favorite little sandwich shop today, and it was very nice.

Across the UK, pancake races are held in various towns and villages. Participants with frying pans race down the street, tossing and catching pancakes in the pan while running. Now, I haven't heard anything about a pancake race near us, and I may have sought out more info had I not forgotten that it was Pancake Day in the first place. Maybe next year.

I'm working on several posts at the moment, since we just got back from our first holiday (yay!). So stay tuned for our exciting trip to Barcelona!

Nature Walk

Walking is a very popular activity in this country, and there are plenty of footpaths to choose from. We live right next to a few, and decided to explore a bit on Sunday.

We began our walk in the gardens. It was a very popular place to be, since the weather is starting to get a little warmer.

The kids did really well, and Lily only rode on the buggy board for a short time on the way home. They ran and played, and pretended to be Pokémon.

Some of the paths we walked were paved, and some were dirt. We were all somewhat muddy when we got home, so next time we'll definitely wear our wellies.

Oh, these views!

I'm really looking forward to spring so we can explore even more!

Today I'm Missing...

Movie theater popcorn. The kind with loads of artery-clogging fake butter sauce. We haven't been to the movies here yet, but I know from other sources that you don't get the butter. You choose salty or sweet (um, no) and that's it. What I wouldn't give right now for a massive tub of the good stuff.

Spaghetti squash. I've seen so many delicious looking recipes lately, but unfortunately there are none of these squashes in the stores.
Doesn't this look amazing?

And finally, last week for some reason I was thinking about the town we moved from. I was picturing a particular stretch of road, and a pang of homesickness washed over me. Now, I honestly haven't had many instances like that over the past five months, and it only lasted a moment. It was just completely unexpected.

Image via visitarvada.org

Wouldn't you miss these views, too?

visitarvada.org again

Bits and Pieces

I've been slacking a bit on blogging, I know. But right now we're just doing the day to day regular life thing. We do have a few fun things on the horizon (travel!), and hopefully once we're headed into spring we'll get to explore our area much more.
But for now, here are some random thoughts.

I've never cared much for hot tea, until I came to the UK. It was a hassle to make, and I like my hot drinks sweet. But here I'll make tea with a little milk and a spoonful of sugar, and I like it. And then there's the electric kettle. I know, how hard is it to boil water in a stove top kettle or the microwave? But I love the convenience. And it's not just for tea. There are huge varieties of cup of soup or ramen here that you make using the electric kettle. (I just won't mention the popularity of instant coffee, yuck.) Lastly, you can use the kettle to preboil water for things like pasta or vegetables. Convenient!

The kids are assimilating very well. Both of the older kids have picked up so many English terms and phrases, and when Miles is reading, he sometimes uses British pronunciation. It's pretty cute, and I'll love it if any of the kids develop an accent.

A few things I've heard from Miles and Lily lately:
- I'm cross with you!
- No, mom! Pants are called trousers, and underpants are called pants!
- I've got a cheeky little raisin!
- I keep getting all muddled up.
- We should take a picture of the telly.

Matt took Lily to a daddy/daughter dance this weekend. She was so excited to dress up and go to a dance, and it was adorable! Matt said she danced a lot, and they both had a great time.

Miles, Clara and I had a movie night while Matt and Lily were out.

That's all for now. I'm hoping we have new adventures soon to blog about!